Car door operating and locking device



Nov. '4, 1941.

J. J. MCBRIDE GAR DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING DEVICE Filed Deb. 29, 1938 (70.2 2; J'Wfiiwe M It -d I 3 Q ||I|.". llllllllll q l l l I I In I r I I I I l I I I I I Ill ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 4, 1941 I V UNITED: STAT S N OFF E CAR, noon OPERATING nn LOCKING DEVIC John J. McBride, Bayonne, 'N. J., 1assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, 'New York, N. 1 a corporation of New Jersey Application December 29, 1938, Serial No. 248, 66 7 (c1. mas-44)- 6 Claims.

which a door may be locked in any position, thus permitting ventilation, yet providing protection of the car contents from theft. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide means for locking car doors in any desired position, whether this be open, shut or intermediate.

A further object of the invention is theprovision of means for locking car doors in any desired position and which means may also be operated to move the door to any desired position.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of means having a powerful leverage to" move the car door to which it is attached to and. from any desired position. v,

These and further objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view showing aportion of the door and car structure with the improved locking and operating meansin position to cause sliding of the door;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the car showing the improved looking and operating means in door locking position; and I Fig. 3 is an end view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2. r I

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that the improved locking and oper: ating device has been applied to a railway car of more or less conventional construction having side sill 2, side sheets 4, metal door post 6, wooden door post 8 and lining I 0. The side sill in the area in which the door is movable is provided with brackets l2 carrying an angle or other formed track l4. Any desired form of door may be used but in the present instance the door is formed of corrugated panel l6, rear stile l8 and door supporting roller fixtures 20 adapted to support the door upon the track for sliding movements. The door stile and door post are, in the formed with a curved face portion 34 adapted slot' 40 and terminating in a projecting pin'42.

instance shown, provided with angular portions 22 and 24 respectively adapted to cooperate when the door is in closed position to" form a seal preventing ingress of foreign material to the car.

A pintle member 26 is attached to the rear stile of the door in any suitable manner, for instance,vby welding a'bracket 28 to the stile and from which thepintle extend outwardly substantially parallel to the car side wall and carries at its outer end nut 36 adapted to be locked in place on the pintle 'by pin '32. This nut is to contact with one side ofan operating lever 36 mounted on the pintle for sliding, rocking and pivotal movements. The lever is formed with a hand grip portion 3 8 merging into an elongated Intermediate the hand grip and slotted portions of the lever a stop 44 is provided adapted to engage the door stile above the pintle when the lever is in locked position as clearly indicated in Figure 2. A stop 46 is alsoprovided welded to thedoor and adapted to engage the lower or pin end of the operating lever below the pintle, thus cooperating with the upper stop to hold the door in desired position. In order to prevent sliding of the lever relative to the pintle a looking means is provided consisting of a chain 48 attached atone end to the door and at the other end to a pin 50 insertable through openings 52 formed in the sides of the slotted portion of the lever. The pin is provided with a 'slot 54 adapted to receive the conventional type of sealing means (not shown) for indicating unauthorized tam-,

pering with the car. In order to prevent rocking movements of the lever when in locked position a U-shaped element is attached to the door stile and slidably carries a'link 62 adapted to be slid and rotated out of and into engagement with the hand grip portion of the lever f g A rack bar or similar meansv 64 is provided welded to the side wall of the car and extending through an opening therein, which opening is suitably reinforced by bars 66 welded to the interior surface of the sheet. This wall rack is provided with suitable cross ledges constituting teeth 68 adapted to be alternately engaged by the projecting pin 42 of the lever as clearly shown in Figure 1. A similar rack is provided upon the track and, in thein'stance shown, is formed by punching or drilling holes 10 in the upper surface or tread portion of the track, which holes may be engaged by the pin projection 42 of the lever. The track is provided with holes over a suificient area to permit holding of the door at any desired point between fully closed and fully open positions; also the wall rack member will ordinarily be extended an equivalent length in order that the door may be positively moved at any portion of its travel.

The operation of the device is as follows, assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Figure 2 with the door in closed and locked position: The link 62 will be slid upwardly, then rotated upwardly to free the hand grip portion of the lever, after which the pin 50 will be withdrawn from holes 52 in the lever, thus permitting the entire lever to be lifted vertically by sliding along the pintle 26 a sufiicient amount to permit the projection 42 to disengage the holes I in the track. If it is desired or possible to move the door manually without use of the operating device, then pin 50 may be reinserted in holes 52 with the pin positioned above the pintle and holding the operating lever in the line and dash position indicated on Figure 3. If, however, it is necessary to apply leverage to open the door, then the lever is slid upwardly along the pintle a sufficient amount to permit the lever to be rotated outwardly and downwardly about the pintle to a substantially horizontal position. With the lever in the horizontal position the projection 42 may be engaged with the teeth 68 in the wall rack and by a rocking movement of the lever substantially in a horizontal plane the door may be moved either toward the open or toward the closed position. In opening the door the lever will bear against the curved surfaces 34 of the pintle nut, while if the door is being forced toward a closed position the lever will bear against the shoulder portions of the bracket in which the pintle is mounted, thus it will be seen that a powerful leverage of the second class is available for moving the door to open or closed position. After the door has reached the position at which it is desired to lock the same, the'lever is moved upwardly and inwardly about the pintle, then slid downwardly until the projection engages the proper hole in the track, after which the link 62 and pin 50 may be engaged with the lever to hold the same in a locked position.

From the preceding description of the device and its operation it will be seen that an extremely simple mechanism has been provided by means of which the door may be locked in any desired position and moved to any desired position by the same mechanism operating as a lever, in both instances the lever cooperating with a rack on the door track or on the car sidewall. It is, of course, obvious that various changes may be made in the form and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention and all such changes in form and arrangement of parts are contemplated as will fall within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway car having a side wall, a door slidable substantially parallel to said wall, rack means secured to said side wall adjacent the lower edge of the door, a track provided with rack means and supporting said door for sliding movements, a pintle carried by said door adjacent the lower part thereof, a lever mounted on said pintle for sliding, rotational and rocking movements, said lever being engageable with said track rack means to block sliding movements of the door, and said lever being engageable with said rack means on the side wall to provide a lever for causing sliding movements of the door.

2. In a railway car having a side wall, a door slidable substantially parallel to said wall, rack means secured to said side wall adjacent the lower edge of the door, a track provided with rack means and supporting said door for sliding movements, a pintle carried by said door adjacent the lower part thereof, and a lever mounted on said pintle for sliding, rotational and rocking movements, said lever being engageable selectively with said rack means to control sliding movements of the door.

3. In a railway car having a side wall, a door slidable substantially parallel to said wall, rack means secured to said side wall adjacent the lower edge of the door, a track provided with rack means and supporting said door for sliding movements, a pintle carried by said door adjacent the lower part thereof, a lever mounted on said pintle for sliding, rotational, and rocking movements, said lever being engageable with said track rack means and side wall rack means to control sliding movements of the door, and means operable for locking said lever when in engagement with said track rack means to prevent movement of the door.

4. In a railway car having a side wall, a door slidable substantially parallel to said wall, rack means secured to said side wall adjacent the lower edge of the door, a track provided with rack means and supporting said door for sliding movements, a pintle carried by said door adjacent the lower part thereof, a lever mounted on said pintle for sliding, rotational, and rocking movements, said lever being engageable with said track rack means and side wall rack means to control sliding movements of the door, and means operable for locking said lever when in engagement. with said track rack means to prevent movement of the door, said means being also operable to hold said lever out of engagement with said track rack means.

5. In a railway car having a horizontally sliding door, a track supporting the door and provided with rack means, a pintle secured to said door, a lever mounted on said pintle for sliding and rotational movements, said lever being engageable with said rack means to block sliding movements of the door, and means engageable with said lever to lock the lever in rack engaging position, said means being also engageable with said lever to retain the same out of engagement with said rack means.

6. In a railway car having a horizontally sliding door, a track supporting the door and provided with rack means, a pintle secured to said door, a lever pivotally connected with said pintle in such ,a manner as to be rotatable and slidable relative thereto, said lever being slidable substantially vertically into engagement with said rack means to block sliding movements of the door,

and means engageable with said lever and pintle to prevent vertical sliding of said lever out of engagement with said rack means.

JOHN J. MCBRIDE. 

